YREKA – As passing motorists honked their car horns in support, approximately 75 protesters holding pro Second Amendment signs gathered at the corner of Oberlin Road and Main Street in Yreka Saturday morning to express their opposition to proposed gun law reforms.

The Peaceful Gun Appreciation Day Rally in Yreka was one of many held nationwide – all in response to President Barack Obama’s proposal to restrict the capacity of gun magazines, ban assault rifles and tighten background checks for those seeking firearm ownership in the face of a series of recent mass shootings throughout the country.

The rallies came at the heels of announcements from several sheriffs in southern Oregon and northern California that they will not enforce federal legislation which takes firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens.

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey, who attended the rally, said he is among those opposed to gun law reforms, and that he does not believe restricting gun ownership will deter crime.

While Lopey noted that he wishes to read the legislation prior to making an automatic decision on the enforcement of any future lawful provisions, he said, “I have no intention of taking guns away from law-abiding citizens, enforcing unconstitutional federal laws or infringing upon the constitutional rights of Siskiyou County citizens.”

Rally participants told the Daily News they believed their message was well received by passing motorists.

Andy Jura commented, “We believe it is our right and responsibility to be able to defend ourselves and the Constitution.”

He added that many rally participants are ex-military service men who fought to defend this country.

“We take our constitutional rights very seriously,” he said.

Louise Gliatto told the Daily News that she believes polls which show the majority of U.S. citizens support gun law reforms are skewed by the liberal media, and she hopes the rally showed lawmakers that citizens want their Second Amendment rights to remain intact.

“We want them to keep their hands off of the Second Amendment. Gun ownership is a right, not a privilege,” she said.

Gliatto, along with several other rally goers, commented that throughout history, dictators disarmed their people prior to perpetrating mass genocides.

Carolyn Duerr of Etna and Don Hugo of Fort Jones both told the Daily News that they wish the resources expended to reform gun laws would instead go toward improving mental health services, which they said would address the root cause of mass shootings.

“All of the mass shootings have been carried out by mentally unstable people,” commented Hugo. “Our country should be identifying the people who are unstable and getting them the help they desperately need. I believe that is where the effort should be centered.”

Page 2 of 2 - Duerr stated, “Guns are definitely not the problem,” and she commented that society is not doing a good enough job of reaching out to provide services to the mentally ill.

She said parents and teachers are often reluctant to admit their children or students have mental health problems, and many parents shy away from taking their children to receive social services because they fear they will be blamed.

Regarding the recent mass shooters, Duerr said, “Somebody knew those young people were in trouble.”

Lopey told the Daily News, “I do not believe that taking assault-type weapons away from law-abiding citizens will deter or prevent crime, but it will increase the victimization of innocent citizens and violate their constitutional rights. It is ridiculous to think that limiting magazine capacities will deter or prevent crime.”

He added that criminals may obtain whatever gun they wish to steal or purchase on the black market, and the government will be penalizing honest, law-abiding citizens by imposing gun prohibitions.

“The Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights protects one’s right to legally keep and bear arms, and innocent citizens should not be punished for the despicable crimes of psychopaths and murderers,” said Lopey.

He said that in his opinion, if citizens are deprived of their constitutional rights to keep and bear arms, all other rights “will be irrelevant because they will be subject to forfeiture at the whim of political leaders who want to control the people and take away their rights.”

He maintained that some political leaders are exploiting recent tragedies in Colorado and Connecticut to promote political agendas when the focus should be on vigorous enforcement of current gun laws, not the addition of laws that he said will do nothing but help criminals victimize people.

“Preventing crime involves everything from education and anti-drug efforts to expanding mental health care,” stated Lopey. “Taking guns away from law-abiding citizens will only create more crime and in many cases turn honest, good citizens into criminals.”